February 25, 2009

Tom Pyle called the meeting to order at 6:31 p.m., asked for prayer requests and opened in prayer. Kaylee Wherry was absent due to set-up for the Student Activities concert. Sean Padgett and David Gettemy were in attendance to present to ASME proposal. Chelsea Ledford and Erin McBride were in attendance to present the ISO proposal. Rachel Long was absent and Ben Knauss was her replacement.

There will be no Senate meeting on March 18, 2009, due to Spring Break.

II) Class Updates

a) Freshman- Micah Yarger gave the update. Their ice skating event was a huge success and the officers were happy with the outcome. Micah attended a pastor′s breakfast and informed them about the Concert of Prayer. The mayor will be attending the event and they would also like to invite the fire chief or city council members to attend. Ashley Grueso asked if a goal was invite and involve the whole community. Micah said yes, and that advertisements have been made for pastors to place in their churches. Hayley Faus asked how Micah would advertise on campus. Advertisement will/may include: a chapel slide, napkin holder ads, a notice in the FYI email, etc.

b) Sophomores - Ted Northrop gave the update. The officers met with Larry Wingard and Joe Hines to discuss Squirrel Mail, and asked if the idea of switching to Microsoft Outlook could ever be a possibility. This, unfortunately, would involve $30-40,000 worth of new equipment (new and additional servers) plus the salary of a new technology/email maintenance position. This endeavor would not be impossible with enough student initiative. Kelly DeFilippo asked if alumni would still be able to access their current Squirrel Mail account if a switch was made. Ted said probably not. There are alternatives to using Squirrel Mail now. There is a system that can be set up to have all your Squirrel mail emails forwarded to your primary email account. Tech support realizes they need to start communicating to students ahead of time when Squirrel Mail will be shut down for maintenance and repairs.

c) Juniors- Doug Miller gave the update. At their class meeting, they discussed the possibility of going to Pittsburgh to play laser tag, and out for ice cream afterwards. A date is TBA. Mariel Friedberg received an email from Clayton Cappellanti about new utensil holders for the Brig. After spring break, the juniors would like to focus on: the Geneva Home Makeover Edition idea and well as following up on getting benches and picnic tables moved up to the apartments.

d) Seniors- Kelly DeFilippo gave the update. They were disappointed with the turnout for their Senior Brunch event. However, they received good ideas from the seniors who did attend. Some ideas for Senior Week include holding two-a-day events (one small event and one big event). Small event ideas include: walking to the G; free massages; t-shirts, appreciation letters to teachers (suggested by Dave Guthrie); a class picture. Big event ideas: a trip to Cedar Point, the zoo, a museum, or Station Square. The seniors would like the bell to be rung after commencement, which is something the junior class could be a part of.

III) Residential Council Update - Tom Pyle gave the update. There were three proposals on February 23, 2009: Arms Women Ping-Pong Table for $500.00, Big Building Pow-Wow for $65.00, and Cleaning Supplies For Arms for $125.00. Hayley Faus added that students are having trouble with the vacuum cleaners in the apartments. This is something the RC′s could work on.

IV) Student Activities Update - Tom Pyle gave the update. Films for the annual Film Fest event are due on March 20. The Tyrone Wells concert (With Keaton Simons and Joy Ike) is tonight at 7:30 p.m.

V) Committee Updates

Chapel Committee: Ted Northrop - Not many issues were discussed from Sexuality Week. The committee had wanted to address Lent at the beginning of this week′s service. Ted reminded Senate that the idea of chapel is for it to be educational, devotional and universal.

Solar Splash Proposal - David Gettemy and Sean Padgett: Each year, the Geneva Mechanical Engineering students have been participating in Solar Splash. The objective of the event is to build a solar powered boat and participate in an international event in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The project needs to be completed by May 27, the date of the competition. Geneva has been competing in this event since 1999 and the ASME wishes to be an example of the education and standards Geneva holds. 6 men will be participating in the Solar Splash event. The 2009 Solar Splash team would like the head faculty and senate members to be sponsors of the boat, which could include the GCSU logo. Courtney Baughman moved to allocate $500.00 to the 2009 Solar Splash Team. Ashley Luciano seconded the motion. Motion passed 11-0-0.

International Students Dinner Proposal - Chelsea Ledford and Erin McBride: Every spring, the ISO sponsors an all campus International Dinner. The date of the event is March 20, 2009 and the theme is, "Celebrate your Heritage." Needs for the week of the event include resources for: advertising, decorations, the dinner, entertainment, movie night, Pioneer charges and t-shirts. Due to the fact that the club has a substantial amount of funds in their account, they are asking for a minimum of $300.00 to hold the International Dinner and make International Week happen. Ted Northrop moved to allocate $300.00 to the ISO for International Week. Ashley Luciano seconded the motion. Motion passed 11-0-0.

Senior Yearbook Proposal (from February 11, 2009) - On behalf of the budget committee, Mariel Friedberg moved to allocate $750.00 to the yearbook ($15 x 50 yearbooks). Hayley Faus seconded the motion. Motion passed 11-0-0. Kathleen Bolton suggested that the Yearbook Committee come up with some kind of long term goal to gain funds. A possibility would be for the Yearbook Committee to become an official Geneva College club.

Restructuring of the Executive Staff, and New Advocacy Endeavors Proposal - Tom Pyle moved to amend the constitution to incorporate the new outlined executive job titles and descriptions as given (which would include a Commuter Cabinet, President′s Round Table, and Union Relations Committee). Doug Miller seconded the motion. Hayley Faus asked what the main reasons were for the new changes. Tom Pyle said that clubs and commuters were the two main under-represented groups at Geneva, and the Commuter Cabinet would help with this focus. The responsibilities of the Vice President would have more of an internal focus, while the President would be focused on external needs. Under the new structure, the Secretary would be working closely with the president on the external issues and target students directly by being more involved in GCSU awareness and advertisement. Motion passed 11-0-0.

New âGo Green′ Cups for the Brig - Pioneer is willing to spend $750.00 for new cups. 1,000 cups will cost $1,283.00. They could be sold for $2-3 a piece for a return that would enable future GCSU members to purchase more cups for future classes. The Food Committee will discuss this idea on Friday.